


Fact or Façade

by 5oftHearted5adist



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2019-07-10 22:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15959309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5oftHearted5adist/pseuds/5oftHearted5adist
Summary: One shots taking place in the Detective Conan/Magic Kaito universe, including AUs and other scenes I thought up.





	1. Melancholy Magician: Master of Masks

The door slammed as Conan burst onto the roof, breathing heavily. Perched at the edge of the roof was his prey, that illusive thief. Cape blowing in the breeze, lit by the full moon until his white suit gleamed in the dark, and the target gem lifted as if in offering to the stars. The magician seemed ethereal. Conan’s watch clicked as he lifted the glass and sighted the sleeping dart at the thief’s back, just above the collar where a thin line of skin was visible before it disappeared at his hairline.

Kaitou KID sighed and let the gem vanish with a swift flick of his wrist, “not the one,” he muttered tiredly. The energy the thief had exhibited during the heist was gone; suddenly he seemed smaller and less… impeccable; in fact Conan could swear the modern Lupin, gentleman thief was slouching. Unable to claim victory when his opponent wasn’t what he should be, Conan lowered the tranquilizer-watch and waited for the other to make the first move.

“Tantei-kun” KID breathed, so softly that even a gentle breeze would have covered the sound of his words, “who am I?” Conan looked up in surprise at the moonlight magician’s unusually somber countenance. KID dropped his eyes and turned away, but Conan had already seen what the thief’s poker face had failed to hide. Fear… grief… and exhaustion.

The thrill of the heist seeped away, dissolving into the night air. “I feel… as if I’m forgetting.” KID said uncharacteristically hesitant. “Can you tell me tantei-ku… Kudo-kun? Am I a civilian who spends his nights as Kaitou KID? Or am I the Phantom Thief KID who spends his days acting like a civilian?” KID grit his teeth, “As I am now I tell more truths, but as I am then I wish the most for the lies to be the truth.”

Conan laughed bitterly, but not without sympathy, “Both are lies as much as truth, both are masks that protect the other, if one is lost the other loses its purpose.”

KID smiled slightly, but just as bitterly, “you understand that as well as I Shinichi, but is it worth it? Both of our faces are false, so where is this one truth?”

Conan sighed, he had no answers, not for this… “perhaps the truth is where it always is... out of sight until it is ready to be revealed… or buried.” He said instead.

KID laughed, “you’re learning tantei-kun; maybe one day you’ll truly be as cryptic as I am.” The laugh died away, “then, I’ll be waiting for that day: when lies become truths and truths lies.” His confident smirk was back in place when KID turned around again and straitened his suit. “I am Kaitou KID, bold and flamboyant, I am a thief, but before all… I am a magician! Who better to warp reality and baffle the mind! Who better to create a perfect illusion!”

Conan smiled, all teeth and wild joyful relief as the thief seemed to be recovering from his bout of depression, “And who else is so adept at twisting lies and truth to become the same.” Conan finished.

The white clad thief tipped his top hat forward slightly in agreement.

“Then I hope your truth will one day be realized.” Conan said sincerely.

“Yours as well,” KID offered, “but, my dear critic, we still have a heist to conclude and an illusion to uphold. Shall we?”

Conan’s smile grew sharper and he reached for his soccer ball-dispensing-belt, “of course.” He replied.

… 

By the time Nakamori-keibu had escaped KID’s traps and reached the roof, the phantom thief was flying away via his hang-glider, a ghostly white triangle against the night sky. Conan was watching him go with a satisfied grin, his hands shoved in his pockets. “Catch you next time thief.” He muttered even as Ginzo started his usual rant.

“I’LL GET YOU KAITOU KID!!! ALL OFFICER’S MOBILIZE!!! KID’S HEADING SOUTH!!!” He shouted into his radio. Almost instantly a line of cars with flashing lights headed away from the building after what Conan had no doubt was a dummy.

“Nakamori-keibu,” he said innocently, “I retrieved the gem already.”

The inspector stopped and stared at the glittering jewel in shock, “WHAT!!!”

Conan smirked as the blustering man snatched the gem away, then turned to leave the police to their wild goose chase. The shrunken detective yawned, it was getting late for a kid. Solving murders, chasing thieves, cheering up melancholy magicians… all in a days work.

“Conan-kun!”

Conan looked up at Ran’s worried face, “yes Ran-neechan?”

“Are you ready to go home?”

Conan nodded and let her grab his hand to lead him. Yes… all in a day's work.

~o0o~

A few blocks away a certain messy-haired magician was walking languidly down the sidewalk with a puzzled expression on his face. “I can’t believe I dropped my poker face in front of tantei-kun.” He whined half-halfheartedly, “Pops would be turning in his grave.” An open and mischievous grin stretched across his face and a spring was added to his steps. “I feel a lot better now though….”

Deciding that the risk had been worth the results, Kuroba Kaito started planning pranks for tomorrow at school. After all, his depression and moping around had left him behind on his weekly quota. Even Aoko had started looking at him worriedly, which led to her pulling her swings during their routine mop chase. The teacher’s too had been watching him less warily as the days went by. Oh yes! Kaito chuckled sinisterly; he had a lot to make up for!!! “Kikiki!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh… writing is hard! I’m more of a visual artist really… and a visual thinker. Trying to describe the movie in my head certainly is a game of vocabulary. Ah well… so it goes.... This is one of my first attempts at writing, hopefully I'll get better.


	2. Early Bird

It was a bit out of his way, but Kaito was sitting at a small café, which he knew was dangerously close to the Mouri Detective Agency where Kudo Shinichi- Edogawa Conan- was currently residing. He half hoped that the shrunken detective would notice him, recognize him, and then (as usual) chase him while calling up police reinforcements on the way. Hell, he had even thought about contacting Nakamori-keibu and asking for assistance.

You see… he wasn’t actually Kuroba Kaito right now. Nor was he KID the phantom thief. Kaito was undercover, incognito, anonymous; it was actually the dark clothes he normally wore when casing a location: a black t-shirt under an indigo blue jean jacket with worn black jeans and scuffed up black tennis shoes. At the moment the only things shielding his identity were his black baseball cap, drawn low to shadow his eyes, and some slight altering of his face using flesh colored mold-able clay.

Kaito was hiding from Snake and the other Black Organization goons who accompanied him. The ‘crows’ had been surprisingly persistent in following him after last night’s heist.

Kaito sighed and dropped his chin onto his arms, crossed on the table. This wasn’t how he liked to work: running until he was sure he had dropped any possible tail.

Dropping his prized poker face for a second Kaito yawned. These all-nighters were starting to get to him and the coffee in the mug mere inches in front of his nose didn’t seem to be helping at all. He closed his eyes for just a moment.

“Late night?” Asked a childish voice from across the table. Kaito jolted awake blinking rapidly as his eyes tried to adjust to the light. A familiar bespectacled boy sat across from the lightly disguised thief, smirking slightly.

Kaito silently cursed how dangerously exposed he had left himself. A quick mental sigh followed before he adjusted his poker face appropriately for his current company. “It’s not the nights, but the mornings that do me in tantei-kun.” He said jovially. Internally he was trying to calculate how long he’d been dozing. Who knew what might have happened during that time?

He reached for his coffee and eyed it warily, watching Conan in his peripheral vision even as Conan was observing him. Lukewarm. Last he remembered his beverage had still been steaming slightly, so… 20 to 30 minutes?

“So KID,” Conan started rousing the tired thief from his musings, “why are you here of all places?”

Kaito paused to gather his thoughts for a moment, what had he been doing here again? Oh right, avoiding the murderers who had chased him into the early dawn. “First off, don’t call me that right now,” Kaito said, “I’m undercover, so call me… Kai-kun. Second, I am here because they have good coffee. Last, ano… I can’t think of a last point, but three is a magic number, so I figured it would be good luck to have three points instead of just two.”

Conan stared at the thief in complete bafflement for a moment before just shaking his head and muttering something along the lines of, “woe was me, why is it always me who gets the crazy ones…”

“Or the psychopathic murdering ones.” Kaito added helpfully.

Conan glared and Kaito grinned, mission: distract chibi from true purpose… success.

Or not.

“So, why is Kai-niisan dressed like that rather than in less noticeable civilian clothes?” The not-child asked in a child’s sweet tones, which truthfully set Kaito’s teeth on edge. “Could it be that you are casing someplace nearby for your midnight job?”

Grimacing, but covering it up by taking a whiff of his nearly room temp beverage, Kaito decided it was best to go with an analogy and hope the young detective would let him leave it at that. Also… he probably shouldn’t consume any of his drink, tantei-kun may have drugged it while he was out.

“You know the thing about my doves,” Kaito started, watching Conan’s eyes narrow at the subject change, “they can be trained to do all sorts of tricks; they’re more intelligent than they are given credit for. They help me steal many shiny things, but sometimes there are some very annoying crows. Crows like shiny things too, even if said shiny things aren’t theirs, but they aren’t nearly as gentle as my doves.” Kaito shrugged, “sometimes it’s necessary to ensure that the doves don’t lead the crows back to their nest.” He set aside the mug of chilled liquid. “And sometimes… it requires more than the gentle dove to chase off the big black crows.”

Conan frowned as the magician counted out an amount of money on the table to pay for his half drunk coffee.

“So you’re heists mark your territory, but… another group is infringing on it. Are they after you or the gem you seem to be looking for?” Conan’s eyes widened, he'd figured it out.

“The crows that hunt me and whom I hunt in return aren’t the best kaitou predators I’ve seen, they are nonetheless dangerous. It’s best to take them down before they truly take to the sky. It’s not a job Kaitou KID particularly enjoys, but as their target… I’d rather hunt than be hunted, but when I take them down I want it to be on my terms.”

Conan frowned, “why don’t you ask for help then?”

Kaito lifted his hands in a helpless gesture, “crows have many roosts, if they perch in the shadows it’s possible even I will miss a few. //The walls have ears//.” He finished in English, sure that the eight year old would understand.

Conan grimaced, his own black organization was the same, “then is there anything I can do?”

Kaito laughed, “I wouldn’t want you to get involved, I cherish my critics and prefer them undamaged, but… for today… thanks for waking me up. If it were one of them that had found me in such a position….” He allowed his signature manic grin to subside, “jail would have been the least of my worries.”

Casting his eyes about for anyone dangerous, Kaito stood and stretched, wincing slightly at his sore muscles and fighting off the urge to yawn (or let himself just curl up right there on the floor and sleep for the rest of the week). No crows were around as far as he could see, so the magician silently walked towards the door. Conan didn’t move, allowing the thief to leave.

Grinning slightly, Conan turned his attention towards the unfinished cup of coffee. “Baka”, he muttered fondly, “if it’s not during a heist with a chase then the catch has no meaning.” Besides, Conan added to himself, it was rather amusing to see the untouchable Kaitou KID slumped over a table in a diner with dark shadows under dull eyes. Even funnier was how cautious the thief had been upon being woken up. He didn’t even finish his drink, probably because he thought Conan might have spiked it.

“What a waste of perfectly good coffee.” He groused, eying the mug longingly. Ran wouldn’t let him have coffee because it apparently can ‘stunt growth’, but having been fond of the drink as a teenager Conan was sorely missing it. Glancing around and feeling utterly ridiculous at the prospect of what he was considering, Conan took up the cup and, throwing caution to the wind, took a gulp.

The actual coffee wasn’t that bad, but he would have preferred it hotter and without the milk and sugar. Conan hummed thoughtfully and added ‘sweet tooth’ to his list of knowledge on the Modern Lupin before finishing off the rest.

With an inaudible sigh of bliss, Conan set the cup down and slid off his seat. Not even the sudden scream of “OH MY GOODNESS!!! HE’S DEAD!!!” could steal his joy at just having had coffee again.


	3. Contingencies

Conan sighed and glanced around the large overly bright ballroom. Leave it to Sonoko to convince her uncle, Suzuki Jirokichi, to hold a Halloween Costume Party in his mansion. Of course with Ran invited... both Conan and Kogoro, her father, had been pulled along as well. How boring.

Big parties like this would have been so much more enjoyable if he were tall enough to actually be included in adult conversation!

The first thing he had done upon arriving was excuse himself from the Mouris’ side and plop himself down in one of the comfortable armchairs that lined the walls. Propping his head up on one arm, Conan continued to let his eyes roam idly over the crowd, deducing what he could from each outlandishly costumed figure.

He didn’t even acknowledge when someone sank into the chair next to him with an audible groan of appreciation for the voluptuous cushions. “What a dull crowd.” Moaned a smooth alto voice, finally prompting Conan to look at his new companion. Said companion was a dark skinned teenage girl with unruly black hair and strange golden-brown eyes. The tiniest hints of an Osakan accent gave her otherwise unremarkable voice a friendly drawl. Like the majority of the crowd she was in costume: an easily recognizable prison uniform complete with a set of handcuffs, binding her slim wrists. On her opposite shoulder a portion of a patch with a prisoner number was visible, but Conan could only make out the last two numbers, a 1 and a 2.

“Ah… yeah” Conan agreed quickly.

The girl continued on unhindered by Conan’s apparent shyness, “it’s really not a very good party for kids. I mean look at tha’ costume over there,” she gestured to a busty girl in a skimpy cat costume. “Absolutely no taste.” The girl complained airily.

Vaguely as she continued to babble, Conan realized that the handcuffs of her costume did nothing to prevent her energetic hand motions. In fact he could swear that she was slipping in and out of them with the ease of a pro.

“Hey!” Conan interrupted her tirade, “are those handcuffs real?”

She paused to look thoughtful for a moment and Conan was pretty sure it had been the first breath she had taken since she started talking to him. She glanced at him in slight hesitation before shrugging and answering with far too much cheer, “of course!” She pointed to a blond male teenager in a deerstalker cap and Sherlock Holmes coat; “I borrowed them from tha’ detective wanna-be.”

Conan’s eyes widened, recognizing Hakuba Saguru, the teen detective from London. “That’s Hakuba-niisan!” Conan exclaimed, “he’s a real detective and I know for a fact he would not just give his handcuffs to anyone!”

The girl had the grace to look bashful before admitting that she had borrowed them without permission.

Conan frowned in suspicion, “I find it hard to believe that you simply went and pick-pocketed such a renowned detective as though it were nothing.”

To Conan’s utter confusion, the girl flushed and brought her hands to her face, gushing about how cute he looked when troubled and how nobody had ever complimented her in such a way. Conan was forced to endure the humiliation as she went so far as to hug him, muttering under his breath that it hadn’t been a compliment.

They continued to banter back and forth for a while before switching to topics of varying degrees of seriousness. She introduced herself as Gituku Chiaki an average high school student and aspiring actress. Conversing with someone who didn’t treat him like a kid actually let Conan feel like Shinichi again. In fact he even forgot for a while that he had been shrunk at all.

A few hours later they each got a glass of punch to wet their throats before resuming. However, Conan was not so relaxed as to not notice his companion’s increasingly frequent glances at Conan’s watch.

“What’s the matter?” Conan asked eventually, “do you have a date or something later?”

Chiaki grinned and flicked her hair over her shoulder, “no, nothing like tha’, but it is an appointment I have and am not lookin' forward to it.” By this point in the conversation, the handcuffs had mysteriously vanished.

Conan tipped his head curiously, “what kind of appointment, it’s a bit late for a doctor, dentist, job interview… any kind of meeting really.”

Chiaki smirked in a familiar way and turned so that for the first time the number stitched into her prisoner costume was visible. 1412.

Conan gasped in realization “Kaitou KID!!!” He lunged towards her… him… off his chair, only to be yanked back by his left ankle. The handcuffs were hooking him to the chair leg. “Why are you here?” He asked the grinning thief.

KID shrugged, “miss Sonoko invited me and I hoped it would be some fun before I had to leave for my job.”

Conan stopped testing the chain around his leg and frowned, “there was no notice for tonight.”

KID’s face was grim as he… she… replied, “it’s not a heist. I have a lead on some criminals of the darker sort. If I succeed they won’t be around for much longer.”

Conan growled, “but that’s dangerous! What if they kill you?!”

KID smirk confidently, “a phantom can’t be killed so easily, but if I do die… well then, I just happen to know Kudo Shinichi, the modern Sherlock Holmes! If anyone would be able to solve my murder it would be him.” Tipping a non-existent hat, the moonlight magician vanished easily into the crowd.

Cursing vehemently with words no 8 year-old should know, Conan heaved the heavy armchair up just enough to slip the other silver band free. Grumbling under his breath he headed into the throng of masqueraders to find Hakuba so he could unlock the second band. It was obvious that the thief was long gone already, but… it was fun talking with him… her. Damn KID’s disguises!!! They make genders so complicated!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chiaki means gathered wisdom. Gituku means notoriously shady and sly in Africa… according to Google. I’ll just say now that pretty much everything I try and double check using the internet, meaning it may be right or it may be wrong or at least… culturally incorrect. This stands for language, flower meanings, name meanings, medical terminology, etc


	4. Eidetic Memory: Still Not Enough

KID was a master of tricks, traps, and drama. He didn’t like it when those same things were set against him and actually succeeded. Perhaps he had underestimated Hakuba’s deviousness, or the pranks of his civilian persona had rubbed of on the half-Brit detective. It didn’t really matter, what did matter was that he hadn’t anticipated the small capsule that had been thrown at him because previously it had always been him throwing such things. So there he stood blinded by whatever had been in that blasted pellet.

“I did not see this coming…” KID said, using the weak joke to bolster his poker face.

“Don’t worry”, Hakuba said smugly, “the chemicals in that capsule cause only temporarily paralysis in your ciliary muscles, causing your eyes to dilate. You’ll be able to see again in approximately two hours, thirty-two minutes, and nine seconds.”

Kaitou KID grinned to hide his unease, “my dear tantei-san… you didn’t truly believe that simple lack of sight would faze me did you?”

Mouth running on autopilot, KID recalled what he knew of the room from his earlier investigations and what he had seen before Hakuba’s trick.

“I expected to at least slow you down if not stop you, you will be unmasked this very night!” Hakuba exclaimed.

KID chuckled, “eye’s are easily deceived, as a magician I know this better than anyone.”

Hakuba smirked drawing closer to the blinded thief as quietly as possible, “it is impossible for a blind man to fake sight and even in your disguises your eyes won’t respond to the light. You can’t possibly fly in that condition, so you hang-glider isn’t an option. Face it, I’ve got you.”

Meanwhile…

The room is twenty-three by forty-five feet squared, KID noted, drawing up a mental map of the museum. The jewel case sits in the middle. All other displays were removed due to his heist notice; however, Hakuba had apparently seen fit to bring in a number of chairs as obstacles and had then somehow managed to convince Nakamori-keibu and his force to wait outside while he set his plan into motion… irrelevant, irrelevant. The wall on the right was mainly made up of glass windows; there were several vents in the ceiling and a utility closet to the left of the main doors.

To get his bearings, KID breathed deeply to dispel any panic and focused on the way Hakuba’s voice bounced through the room. Thank goodness that as a very meticulous thief and showman he considered every aspect of a room before his ‘performances’. As a ventriloquist, he was a master at echolocation. He knew how the air flowed and could hear it move through the vents, how else was he supposed to be able to predict how his smoke screens and sleeping gas would billow. He pictured the room in his mind, every detail crisp: where the chairs were all set, where the chair-rail on the walls were, all the proportions of the room, etc. He remembered that the floors were carpeted, that would help mask his footfalls. Speaking of… Hakuba was moving…. “Face it, I’ve got you.” The detective gloated.

KID grinned, setting his course in his mind, “I’m afraid I have been blinded, I would love nothing more than to ‘face’ you, but without sight it would be less than satisfying. I must leave you now dear tantei-san, and I wish you better luck in your next attempt to catch me. Ja-ne!” And, to Hakuba’s astonishment, the white-clad magician did a neat flip over his head and landed just as lightly as always on the floor.

_But he’s blind!!!_ The detective’s reason protested, _this is impossible!!!_

With a theatrical bow, Kaitou KID dropped a smoke bomb and dashed off towards the doors. He opened the door and waited expectantly for the shouts of the task force for the instant before he ran into a wall. The door closed with a nearly inaudible click. _Ite-e_ … KID groaned silently, picking himself up, _what in the…? Closet… right…_ he’d mixed up the positions of the two doors. _It is the main doors on the left and the broom closet on the right._

_Great going KID_ , he scolded himself, _now you’re trapped in a broom closet, blind, and there’s a large number of police as well as a detective mere feet away from discovering you._ With a slight whisper of his cape, the magician knelt in front of the door and listened for danger while trying to discover a way out of this new and unforeseen predicament.

~o0o~

Hakuba coughed twice and waved a hand in an attempt to disperse the thick cloud of stage smoke faster. _Impossible_ , he thought, _how could someone blind do that!!! Then again this isn’t just someone… it’s **him**_. Sighing and anticipating the scolding he was about to receive, Hakuba pulled out the radio he’d been given, “KID got away, being blind had no affect.” Nakamori’s curses could be heard through the doors. His task force jumped at his orders, setting a perimeter around the museum and on the look out for any sign of the thief leaving by foot.

Hakuba started glancing around the room for clues. The police hadn’t seen anything leave, so KID was either still in the room or had managed to get out through one of the small vents in the ceiling despite not being to see. _Or…_ Saguru stopped in front of the door with a small sign saying “supplies: authorized personnel only” _he could be hiding in here._

The door creaked open and an explosion of confetti hit Hakuba in the face, sending him jerking backwards. A small white card sat innocently in the middle of the floor. Cautiously, the British detective picked it up.

Voiceless it cries,

Wingless flutters,

Toothless bites

Mouthless mutters.

-Kaitou KID

Written as neatly as ever. Hakuba cursed, “wind; he used an air vent.” Saguru froze thinking of another way that the answer “wind” would apply. “That idiot!!! He’s going to fly!!!” He raced to the window just in time to see KID fly past, his ever-present confident grin in place. “Look out!” Saguru shouted, before realizing that KID couldn’t hear him through the thick glass and also couldn’t look out because he couldn’t see.

Miraculously however, KID turned and didn’t run into the flagpole Hakuba had been trying to warn him about. In fact as he flew away one couldn’t even tell he was blind with the way he easily avoided every building and obstacle.

~o0o~

KID grinned to hide his terror and focused on the way his glider was moving. Thank goodness the air conditioners had turned on and alerted him to the vent in the floor of that closet; and that air currents change around objects in general, so they were easy to avoid in flight. He knew from the slight headwind that he was heading east, but he didn’t know where to land. “Jii-chan I’m literally flying blind.” An updraft caught his attention. “Actually, I know where I am… I’m landing in the ally behind the bakery, meet me please.”

The pleasant smell of the bakery told him where it was and he landed on the roof with only a slight stumble. Retracting the hang-glider he climbed down the fire escape, right where he knew it would be, and stood in the ally to wait. Now he was most nervous about being seen in his flashy suit.

“Bocchama!” Jii said, entering the ally. KID smiled, “is the coast clear?”

“Yes.”

With a flourish of his cape, Kaitou KID’s paraphernalia vanished under Kuroba Kaito’s civilian clothes. Jii took his arm and led him back to his car. “Honestly bocchama, you are going to give me a heart attack one of these days… flying blind like that.”

Kaito just grinned and feigned looking out the window. He was so going to get Hakuba back for this in class on Monday.


	5. Crows Make for Poor Drivers

Shinichi cursed as he ran for his life. Trust him to get caught up in a murder case while under the affects of a temporary antidote and then run into some low level Black Organization members.

The nondescript black van squealed as it slid around the corner at high speeds. There was no way he’d be able to outrun them on foot. He could practically feel the heat from the engine as the car bore down on him. He grit his teeth expecting pain any second. Instead there was a bright flash of light behind him and he found himself being tackled to the side.

He hit the ground in a roll hearing the thump of his body on the pavement, but not feeling it. There was a second louder thump and a pained grunt half a second after and someone else landed heavily next to him. The loudest sound however, was that of the Black Organization goons crashing into one of the ally’s brick walls with a horrible crunching noise.

Shinichi forced himself to his hands and knees and nudged his rescuer. “Get up! They might be knocked out, but if they’re not they’ll be on us in minutes, we need to go or they’ll kill us!!!”

“Nng…” the other man moaned, slowly pushing himself up.

There was a sound from the car and Shinichi startled, grabbing the other under the arms and hauling him up. The man hissed, but did not complain. Slinging one arm over his shoulder, Shinichi helped take some of the man’s weight and together they limped off into the dark.

“How badly are you hurt?” Shinichi asked once they had gotten a couple blocks away.

The man winced, “not as badly as it could have been”, he said, “I…” he paused to consider, “have a fractured tibia, broken wrist, maybe a couple broken ribs, and will definitely be sore tomorrow.”

Shinichi scowled at the other’s flippant response. “I’m taking that last one to mean contusions and possible lacerations.”

The man chuckled, “sure, if you want to get into more medical terminology.”

Frowning, Shinichi wondered why he was taking this man’s word on what his injuries were; he was obviously an odd character.

They hobbled a while longer when suddenly the man pulled Shinichi sideways, “this way.” Without a word, Shinichi allowed himself to be guided down another ally, through a back door, and up some staircases. Pulling a key from his pocket, the man unlocked a door and led Shinichi into a rundown hotel room.

“Nice.” The teen detective commented, glancing around at the peeling wallpaper and rough wooden floor.

Laughing again, the man sat down on the bed. “I’ll admit I’ve had far nicer than this too.” He said, “but this was the closest hotel to my… place of employment… that doesn’t ask questions when being paid in cash for only a single night.”

Alarms went off in Shinichi’s head, something about the man’s deliberate, but honest wording.  Not just that it was sketchy as hell.

Shinichi flicked on the lights and saw, for the first time, the one who had jumped to his rescue. He appeared to be an average man with casual clothes, dark hair and a mustache, and dark smiling eyes. However, with the light it became obvious that none of this was true. The skin on the face had a deep cut on the left side from which dribbled a small amount of blood and was mutilated where the man’s face had been scraped on the pavement. Instead of acting like skin, the ‘wounded’ areas sagged loosely.

In a practiced move, the man reached up and pulled. The latex mask pulled away and KID grinned out at him, having somehow put his monocle on before Shinichi caught a good glimpse of his face. There was still a small cut going vertically along his cheek where the mask had been deeply cut.

Shinichi gaped as KID examined his face in a hand mirror. “I am immensely glad I was wearing a mask… otherwise I would have had to explain much worse scrapes to my mom… plus facial scars are so hard to conceal.”

“K-KID!” Shinichi finally stuttered.

“Yes tantei-kun?” KID asked innocently.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

KID’s face warped into one of innocent confusion, “me? Well, I was taking a midnight stroll and _admiring_ some modern architecture when I saw a favorite critic of mine in distress, so like a knight out to save a damsel, I swooped into action.”

Shinichi growled, then sighed, “well I guess letting you go this once is payment enough for you saving my life.” He bent over and examined the cut on KID’s cheek despite the magician’s discomfort at the close proximity. “Does this hurt?”

KID huffed, “it certainly doesn’t tickle, but I’m far more concerned about my wrist.”

Shinichi nodded agreement and, before the thief could protest, took it in his hands. KID hissed through his teeth. “Sorry” Shinichi mumbled, he knew very well that having healthy hands was paramount to a magician’s tricks. Carefully, he felt the thief’s swollen arm. “Definitely broken”, he agreed, “I’d recommend going to a clinic for this one, but I’ll splint it for now.”

Surprisingly, KID remained silent as Shinichi fussed over his various scrapes, to the point where Shinichi forgot who it was he was treating. “It would be best if you just took your shirt off so I can check your ribs.’ Shinichi said with a decisive nod.

KID gave a wry grin, “only so long as you don’t try to later identify me by my birthmarks or… other… distinguishing features.”

“Detective’s honor” Shinichi replied.

Hesitantly, KID pulled his disguise’s t-shirt off. His left side was a lovely shade of blue against his pale skin, but Shinichi found himself not looking at that, but the scars. Two nearly parallel bullet grazes stretched along his arm and another couple that were more jagged looked like results of various hang-glider crashes. Most worrying was the vaguely star shaped one over his heart.

KID’s expression was neutral, “when you get shot at as often as I, you’re bound to get hit.”

“What is this from?” Shinichi asked, gesturing to the star shaped one.

KID chuckled mirthlessly, “The Blue Birthday gem. It was in my breast pocket when Sna - one of my crows shot me off a building. Fortunately it saved my life; unfortunately it left its own mark. Now, that’s enough talk over depressing things, if we continue at this rate I’ll reveal all my secrets and then what kind of a magician would I be?”

Lost in thought, Shinichi automatically wrapped KID’s ribs. He didn’t even notice KID redress into a different disguise in record time until a darkly dressed teenager in a black baseball cap tapped his shoulder.

“Oi Kudo, if you stay here isn’t your Ran-chan going to worry, or are you permanently cured now?”

“Crap!” Shinichi shouted, jumping into action. “The cure will run out in an hour! I’ve got to get home!” He raced out the door, leaving the bemused moonlight magician alone.

Shrugging, Kaitou KID limped out after him, already making plans to see a doctor and reschedule the heist he’d been planning when he detoured to help the modern Sherlock Holmes. The thought made him frown, _so tantei-kun has his own crows to deal with… interesting._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The great thing about being a one-shot author... you don't have to give details before a scene if you don't want to. And, they don't even have to make sense because artistic license. :) I just like getting those two to interact.


	6. Dove Bombers

Kaito snickered as out the window he watched Hakuba Saguru’s poor hawk, Watson, desperately avoid the bright explosive pellets he had taught his doves to drop. It was an idea he’d been playing with for a while and had only recently managed to make work.

As KID he had already taught them how to trail people of interest, work as surveillance, hide in his clothes to appear as needed in tricks, carry messages, and even how to seek out snipers so that Snake and his associates wouldn’t get the drop on him. In comparison to all those feats that another might consider impossible, teaching his birds to drop concussion pellets on anyone or anything that tried to attack or catch them was merely one more impossible trick that he had dedicated hours of training to accomplish.

“Kuroba!” A familiar voice growled with surprising vehemence.

Kaito turned in his seat, “why hello Hakuba.” He said in a voice that was all together too chipper even by his own standards. He rested his cheek against his palm in a bored manner.

Saguru’s stormy face grew darker, “get your pests to stop harassing my hawk!”

Kaito smiled pleasantly, “I’m afraid that my doves only attack like this in self defense, so I’d say the correct response in my position would be: keep your hawk away from my doves. Continue to try and use Watson to catch them and my doves will continue to be armed.” His grin became sharp.

Hakuba scowled, “I have often seen doves around the sites of KID’s heists, my theory is that he uses them for surveillance.”

Kaito sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes, “I AM NOT KAITOU KID.” He exclaimed, emphasizing each word, “and _I_ don’t use my doves like that. They are my assistants. I don’t appreciate them being traumatized by your bird. Stop attacking my doves based on your groundless and harebrained delusions!”

Frowning deeply, Hakuba stormed off. He didn’t want to admit Kaito was right and that he had no definite proof. Kaito smirked smugly, watching the half-Brit detective’s retreating back.

“You certainly are a breaker of laws Kuroba-kun.” Akako whispered in his ear.

Kaito grimaced, “what do you want?” He asked hostilely.

She smiled coyly, “merely to warn you. You break the laws of man, the laws of nature, be careful how far you take it... or the consequences may be severe.”

Kaito frowned, “I don’t know what you’re talking about witch.” He muttered.

Akako smirked knowingly, “perhaps one day you’ll find out, but by then it will be too late.” With her signature high-pitched laugh, she wandered away.

Kaito dropped his head onto his crossed arms. What a freaky girl, he thought. He was soon distracted from those thoughts by the sight of Saguru outside, hopping up and down trying to ward off Kaito’s frightened doves while hiding his own bird behind one arm.

Kaito chuckled to himself and watched Aoko warily from the corner of his eye. The glare she was sending him would make her father proud; if there was anything she’d inherited from Nakamori Ginzo, it was his volatile temper. Maybe there would be a mop chase to look forward to in the future… it was certainly definite if he flipped her skirt. Kaito grinned in anticipation, what could he say but that he loved the chase?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my! Look at that! I'm not dead!  
> Hopefully I'll manage to do some actually posting here now that school is out.  
> We'll see. ;)


	7. The Detective's Doppelganger

It was another of those few occurrences wherein both Kaitou KID and Edogawa Conan were investigating the same case. At the moment however, the only thing that mattered was surviving. The building, which suspiciously differed greatly from its blueprints, was also home to a number of hidden passages and labyrinths.

Mouri Ran had unfortunately fallen pray to one of these rigged paths and it was pure chance that had the Moonlight Magician discover her in time to keep her from being killed in yet another dangerous trap. ‘Killed’ being a relative term. His intervention had save her from a painful and instant death, but now they were both trapped in a partially collapsed room. They could still very well die: if not found they could starve, die of thirst, or more likely be crushed if the rest of the room collapsed.

At least, this is what the thief concluded from his glance around the dusty room by the light of a couple glow sticks he had with him. It was hard to tell what Ran was thinking as she glared daggers at him. “Mouri-san”, KID greeted with a bow, “it is certainly a pleasure to share your company on this most delicate of missions.”

He jerked back as Ran’s fist swiped through the air where his head had been. “Don’t pretend to be a gentleman with me, you pervert!” She cried out in anger, KID dodged another potentially devastating blow. “I remember you pretending to be Shinichi! I thought that maybe he had actually come back, but then you weren’t him! He calls me but I never see him and then you had to get my hopes up… only for… it….” She stopped her random attacks, tears running down her cheeks. “Is he ever going to come back?”

KID checked out her slumped posture and, reassured that she wouldn’t start attacking again, moved forward. “Mouri-san”, he said softly, “I am a magician and an entertainer, your tears do me harm and I would wish to lift your spirits… however, I am unsure what I should say.”

Ran nodded, not even bothering to hide her grief. The magician smiled kindly. “I am burdened by knowledge of Kudo-kun’s aim.” He said slowly, “so, seeing you in such pain prompts me to tell what I might be allowed.”

Ran looked up in surprise, “why do you know so much?” She asked suspiciously, “why did he tell you if he didn’t tell me!?”

KID put up his hand in a placating gesture. “My dear, there are many secrets I keep and several are not mine to tell, but your childhood friend and I have been caught crossing paths often on our respective journeys and while he rarely says anything to me beyond threats of capture I have recognized him as an equal and a dear rival. A rival such as he I can’t help but regard as a friend, and friends I keep watch of.”

Ran’s tears had stopped as she listened intently, “what can you tell me?” She asked determinedly wiping away the moisture on her cheeks.

The thief grinned, “first I must state frankly that my first, and perhaps my only rule, is that ‘no one should get hurt’, so I can only speak of what I believe will not end up endangering you and your acquaintances.” He frowned, “otherwise Kudo-san might just kill me.”

Ran couldn’t help but chuckle.

Instantly the smile was back on KID’s face and the glint in his eyes spoke of happiness. _She is certainly more beautiful… and less scary when she’s not angry_. He thought.

The magician exhaled loudly to draw her attention back, “There is quite a bit to say, you might want to sit down. First, Shinichi considers you very dear.” He started carefully waiting for Ran to get comfortable, “like I, with my friends, so too is he with you. He is working very hard so that he might return to you, but he is encircled by danger. A crime organization of the highest caliber is his prey and he is theirs.”

Ran frowned in worry, “why hasn’t he said anything?”

KID shrugged, “Thus far he has carefully avoided their attention despite their spies, he isn’t alone in his goals, but he is in one of the most tenuous positions. He would not wish to make you share in this danger, so he stays away and he hopes it is enough.”

Ran frowned, “but I could help him!”

KID clenched his hands into tense fists, “don’t you understand!” He shouted. “You are helping! By being safe you help him keep focused on his mission, by being strong you keep him unburdened by the guilt of making you sad, by remaining alive you remind him that there is a future for him if… when he gets back, a hope that it will all be fine and that even though he himself is isolated and hiding in the shadows you are his light! In the sea of danger you are his beacon of safety! In the midst of chaos you are the steady rock! The calm of the storm! The diamond in the rough! Don’t you see that without you he would forever be lost?!” He fell silent, breathing heavily.

“Who is it for you?” Ran said quietly, a new light in her eyes.

KID turned to look at her, “for me?” He echoed.

“Who is your light, your rock, your diamond?” Ran asked.

The magician chuckled, “she’s no diamond, she is a sapphire, as blue as the sea and just as dangerously beautiful. She is… I don’t know. I’ve known her forever and perhaps I love her the way Shinichi does you, but maybe I don’t… I’m not sure. She is normal, my normal – and that’s a good thing, day by day I see her and she shines like life itself. She is precious.”

Ran smiled, “does she love you?”

The thief shrugged, “I don’t know. She has never said.” He smiled, deep in thought.

“Change.” Ran suddenly ordered, “if you change into a disguise now I won’t turn you in once we’re rescued.”

KID smiled sadly, “I’m afraid I don’t have any masks left on me.”

Ran bit her lip, “you don’t need a mask to be _him_ though.” She said hesitantly.

The thief smirked, “are you giving me permission to use _his_ face?” He asked flippantly though his eyes were serious.

Ran nodded, “just this once. If I ever discover you looking like him after this, I will not hold back, and I’m sure you know I am a karate champion!”

KID paled, “yes ma’am.” With a perfectly executed swirl of his cape, the magician was dressed in casual clothes and was struggling to get his hair to stick up right for the signature cowlick.

He grimaced and mumbled, “getting hair to flatten down is easy, getting it to stick up is a lot harder.”

Ran laughed, “come, sit here, and I’ll help.”

He smiled and dropped down so that she was able to arrange his hair right. “Hmm…” KID hummed, “doing my hair…” he mumbled, “maybe when we get out of here we should get a group of friends together and get our hair and nails done.” He said with a perfectly straight face and even tone.

Ran laughed again, “it sounds like a perfect girls’ day out, but you’re a guy.”

The magician moved so he was sitting next to her and said in an innocent voice, “I’m only a guy when I don’t feel like being a girl.”

Ran grinned evilly, “sure, and when you can’t tell that someone is actually a girl.”

They both laughed, thinking of his skill with disguises and the one time he had totally botched it.

Half an hour later, filled mainly with laughter and ‘girl talk’, which Ran was greatly amused to find KID excelled at, there was a loud shifting of rubble and someone shouting incomprehensibly through the wreckage. Immediately the two began shouting that they were indeed stuck inside. With the people on the other side working with whatever electric machines KID and Ran could hear, it took another twenty minutes for the path to be cleared enough to allow them out.

KID gestured to the small opening, “ladies first.” Ran smiled and slipped through into bright lights.

Overlapping shouts of “Ran” from her father and “Ran-neechan” from Conan met her ears a moment before she was grabbed into a tight hug. “We were worried when you disappeared and then there was that loud sound!” Conan said in childish fear.

Ran smiled, “I’m fine! I was kept safe by-“

“me”, she was cut off and Kaitou KID as Kudo Shinichi joined their group.

Conan’s eyes narrowed. ‘Shinichi’s’ smile widened in amusement, “Conan-chan!” He exclaimed, “I haven’t seen you in ages, you’ve hardly grown at all!”

Conan glared, then his face relaxed and his expression changed into that of an excited child again within the span of a second. “Ah, Shinichi-niisan, I hope you and Ran-neechan weren’t to scared in there, it looks dark.” He tilted his head minutely in Ran’s direction and raised an eyebrow; _does she know who you are Kaitou KID?_

The disguised thief smiled, “it was a little disorienting at first, but I luckily had a couple of glow sticks and we were able to entertain ourselves until rescue by talking. After all, I’ve been missing for a long time and wanted to catch up with her.” ‘Shinichi’ nodded shortly to Conan, _yeah, she knows I’m not you_.

Conan breathed in relief and decided that if Ran wasn’t going to say anything, he wouldn’t either. After all, Ran had said that KID kept her safe.

‘Shinichi’ exchanged a few more words with them before looking at a familiar watch on his wrist. His brow furrowed, “unfortunately I have to excuse myself now.” He said, “I have… some one to meet about that big case I’ve been working on.” He glanced apologetically at Ran, “if we might have a minute alone before I go.”

Curious, but unable to do anything else, Conan didn’t complain as Mouri Kogoro carried him away by the back of his jacket.

Ran rejoined them a moment later, smiling happily.

“What did that idiot have to say?” Kogoro asked roughly.

Ran shrugged, “he said he was happy to see me and he promised to come back as soon as he finished his case.”

Her expression became innocently confused, “he also said thank you and ‘tell Conan thanks for letting me borrow his watch.’” She held out the item and Conan took it, strapping it on angrily. _That thief!_

Meanwhile, as he was slipping unhindered past the police, KID sneezed. _Hmm… a pretty girl must be thinking of me._ He thought despite knowing it was probably an irate chibi-tantei. Aoko came to mind and the magician shook her image away, resolving to think of other pretty girls. Akako’s likeness appeared next. KID grimaced and resolved to never think of pretty girls again as it was obviously a bad idea.


End file.
